Inward Spiral
by Mr.Marvel83
Summary: Young Naruto dreams of being accepted by his village and wants to prove that he is indeed a hero. But forces conspire against him wanting to turn him into the ultimate weapon to serve their needs. Can he walk in the light or will he fall into darkness?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, their lived a fox demon with nine tails, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. And he was so powerful that wherever he shook those tails, landslides and tsunamis would result. The suffering people gathered the great shinobi clans to fight this menace. Finally, risking his life one ninja was able to imprison its soul. Having defeated the demon, the brave shinobi died. That shinobi was the fourth Hokage, the fire shadow, champion of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

* * *

The wailing cries of the small infant pierce the disturbing silence of the night. Black spiral markings, strange looking kanji's pulsated from the stomach of the small boy and once the markings faded from sight the seal had completed its job. A lone figure approaches the infant, its tattered clothing once a sign that showed he was a elite shinobi, a proud ninja of Konoha, now just a broken shell of a man. Thick red blood dripped down his face from several cuts and lacerations, his hair caked with mud and dry blood, which should have shown dark streaked silver. He stared down at the child, his eyes the color of coal, and as he watched the child cry for affection, silent tears of sadness and rage fell down his face. That same tear stung his eye and what should have been a normal left eye, but was replaced by eerily solid red eye with three commas around the pupil. This man was known as Copy-nin Hatake Kakashi, wielder of the Sharingan.

"Damn demon. So your still alive, well that's easily rectified." He spat out, not bothering to hide his contempt for the boy.

A deadly looking kunai appeared in his hand, poised over the small bundle, just waiting for the right instant to strike. After a moment it began it's decent towards the wailing blond child. The blade was blocked by the sudden appearance of a black staff, and he knew the owner of said staff, whom was to be feared at that moment. This was the personal weapon of the Third Hokage and doubled as his summons. Unbridled fury burned through his eyes, his knuckles turning white from the strain from holding the staff steady.

"What do you think your doing, Kakashi?" Sarutobi said.

The man known as Kakashi turned his head towards the older man, the madness in his eyes barely concealed.

"Simple, Hokage-sama, I'm finishing the job that sensei started and rid the land of this demon." Kakashi said in a lazy manner.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that to happen." And with that a squad of ANBU appeared, as if summoned with a mere thought.

"Hatake Kakashi, I am here by placing you under house arrest, until such time as your actions can be judged. You will not be allowed to do any missions, and you'll be visiting a therapist to determine your mental state. Take him to his house and make sure that he stays there." Sarutobi ordered.

The four-man squad took charge of their prisoner and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sarutobi bent down, feeling all of his sixty-five years at the moment, and picked up the wailing infant, with said action caused the child to stop crying. The child opened his eyes and looked at the old man, then began to examining his rough snow white beard. The tiny child cooed and giggled, while playing with the old man's beard. Concern was etched on his face as he contemplated the boys' future, and while he was lost in thought, the impossible happened for the second time that day.

_ 'What the hell?! When did this happen?'_ thought the old man.

Making sure that they were alone in the burnt out clearing, he teleported away in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

**Later that night…**

Jiraiya had entered the Hokage's office after receiving his sensei's summons. As soon as he was done here with the old man, he'd leave the village in order to mourn and heal after losing his greatest student. After losing Arashi, he felt rather hollow, as if someone had squeezed his heart in a vise grip. It was then that he noticed the crib in the corner of the room.

"So…" he started and didn't bother with the pleasantries on this visit.

"Fine, straight to the point then. I need you to perform a **Binding Seal **on the child in the crib." Sarutobi said, worry lines had sunken deeper into his face as he spoke each word.

"Please tell me your joking, right? What could you possible want me to bind on...," Jiraiya looked in the crib at the child, "...an infant less than a few hours old?" he asked. Even for him, putting a binding seal on a kid, was rather unheard of.

Sarutobi steepled his hands together lost in thought for a moment and then proceeded to pull out his pipe from within his official robes. Making sure that the tobacco in his pipe was well lit he started to speak.

"Because of the attack from Kyuubi, the boys' bloodline has been activated. As of right now, if anyone found out about it, it would be leaked throughout the entire village before daybreak. It would also alert the enemies of the clan that this boy belongs to, both inside and outside of the village, that there is still a survivor. He would be in constant danger, just for that reason alone. So I need you to bind his bloodline-limit, and when he reaches a level were he can protect himself from his enemies, I'll tell him about his family, clan history, and give him his full inheritance." The Hokage said.

"What about the seal? Are you just going to leave it on and not tell him about it?" Jiraiya asked exasperated. He walked to the window watching as countless shinobi were repairing buildings and rescuing trapped people.

"No, when he becomes of age I'll have you undo the bindings. Around the age of fourteen at least. I just hope his mothers' bloodline doesn't activate between now and then, binding or no, it could kick in when we least expect it to." the old man said.

"Who were his parents?" Jiraiya asked curious to find two bloodlines in one child, which doesn't happen very often.

"I can't tell you and I hope no one else asks either. All of the birth records that go back five years have been destroyed during the attack on the hospital and surrounding buildings. Let's say for now that his parents died during the attack."

"So, what's the brats' name?" Jiraiya asked.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Sarutobi stated.

"Well I don't know of any Uzumaki clan ever being in Konoha. Sensei, there is a problem with the sealing ceremony." He hesitated.

"What kind of problem?" the old man asked, sounding startled.

"There are certain side effects to the sealing process." He turned back from the window to look his old sensei in the eyes.

"Because of the kids' age and the type of binding you want me to do, a few possibilities could occur. Such as; extreme clumsiness, little too no hand eye coordination, impaired intelligence, an inability to control the volume of his voice, or hell it could be a combination of a few of them together. And we won't find out till he gets older, it could affect his ability to become a ninja. Are you sure you still want to go through with this?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, we have very little options concerning this situation." The Hokage said sadly.

"Well, where do you want me to place the seal? On his stomach perhaps?" Jiraiya asked.

"No, definitely not there of all places." Sarutobi practically shouted.

"Eh? Why not?" came the response.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, while puffing out small clouds of smoke from his pipe, wondering just how to broach the subject of such delicacy.

_ 'Well plowing right on ahead seems to be working for me as of late, so here goes nothing…'_ Sarutobi thought.

"You can't put the seal on his stomach, because theDeadDemonImprisonmentsealisalreadyoccupyingthearea." Sarutobi finished in a rush.

Jiraiya blinked for a few seconds trying to decode exactly what the old coot had just said and utterly failing.

"Mind repeating that? Cause I could have sworn you just said the little brat had the **Dead Demon Imprisonment** seal occupying the stomach area." He asked as his eyes narrowed on his old sensei.

"Yes, I did." Came the curt response.

"Whoa, isn't that just fucking peachy. So the kid is the Kyuubi container. You know the demons' chakra will severely screw up his chakra control. Damn this kid is going to have it rough." A truer statement couldn't have been said at the moment.

* * *

**A few hours later, dawn is not far off…**

Jiraiya had been working tirelessly throughout the dwindling night, preparing for the second sealing of the day.

_ 'I can't believe I'm going through with this.'_ He thought as he finished drawing the seals that he needed.

As of now everything in the village was still chaotic, as people were still looking for family members, rubble being cleared away, and the wounded being carted off to medical treatment. Konoha hospital looked as if it had seen better days, so most of the wounded were taken to recently setup medical tents for treatment. Several buildings in the village looked similar, if not worse. Fortunately Jiraiya didn't have time to look at these proceedings and quickly finished drawing all of the seals and lit the ceremonial candles needed for the ritual. The room being used was 10 x 12 x 8 and completely painted white before he began. Now the room was covered, floor to ceiling, in archaic seals, strange kanji's, and not one bit was put to waste. A knock on the door alerted him that sensei was waiting with Naruto. He opened the door and looked at the sleeping child, blond wisps of hair covered his head and three whisker like birth marks covered both sides of his face.

"Good timing Sensei, I just completed the necessary seals, so we can begin the ritual whenever your ready." Jiraiya said, small blotches of ink covered his hands and a few sprinkles littered the front of his red vest.

"One moment please." Sarutobi asked and received a nod in response.

"Please forgive me Naruto, this needs to be done for your sake, as well as for the sake of this village. One day I hope you understand what I'm doing is only to protect you. I hope I'm there to explain it all to you, when that time comes." The old man whispered to the little bundle in his arms.

The Hokage handed the child off to his one time student and renowned 'Super Pervert' and left the room. Jiraiya set little Naruto down in the center of the room, in the focal point of the main seal array. Altogether the seals in the room number up to ninety, separate and extremely complex designs, all performing their own specific task and working simultaneously strengthening each other. In other words all of the seals were a work of a genius or a certifiable madman to reach such a level of perfection. Jiraiya stood off in his designated 'safety' area and smeared a small amount of his blood on the main seal so it would activate. He began to perform the hand seals needed, which were performed rapidly and almost seemed like a blur of movement. After four minutes of these hand seals, he finished the ritual.

** "Binding Seal."** Jiraiya shouted at the top of his lungs.

After the first five seconds it seemed as if nothing had happened at all, but then the main seal array began to glow and pulsate an disturbing red. It quickly spread out to the other seals covering the room and the seals seemed to shift and move of their own violation. Their speed increase at an insane rate and slowly being drawn down onto Naruto. Red seal markings crept onto his skin, spinning and swirling about, moving towards his back. During the process Naruto woke up and screamed at the top of his tiny lungs, as if he was in the most intense pain imaginable, which happened to a very accurate, considering a full grown adult would have blackout from the pain by then. Finally the seals faded from his skin, leaving only the tiniest of birthmarks on his right shoulder blade, which was actually a constantly visible seal mark. He continued to wail until Jiraiya picked him up and began to gently rock him back and forth till he fell back to sleep. Jiraiya was tired from using so much chakra and quickly found the Hokage and gave back Naruto. He then went off to find someplace to sit and relax to regain his strength.

"Don't worry Naruto. Tomorrow morning during the village meeting, I'll announce you as the village savior. Then the Fourth's dream will be fulfilled, they will see you as a hero and not the demon incarnate." Sarutobi said to the sleeping child.

Of course, he didn't know how wrong he was.

* * *

**Later that morning…**

The entire village populous was gathered before the Hokage's tower, waiting for the reinstated Third Hokage to make his announcements. The village council was gathered in their meeting hall discussing important details concerning the reconstruction of the village, while the Hokage made his speech. Among the civilians and shinobi in the crowd, all of the major clans were present, eager for any news on what's happening. Sarutobi stepped out on his balcony with Naruto in his arms sleeping.

_ 'Now comes the hard part.'_ Thought Sarutobi.

"People of Konoha, Kyuubi has been defeated." He exclaimed, which resulted in a loud breakout of cheers.

"Unfortunately, the Fourth Hokage, Kazama Arashi, died defeating the demon." Everyone at the meeting was shocked to learn that their beloved Fourth Hokage, was dead and it saddened them to new levels. Women could be heard sobbing throughout the crowd and some of the man had silent tears running down their faces. A great man had died and had become a legend in his own right.

"People of Konoha, the beast known as Kyuubi was defeated last night, by the Fourth riding a top his summons Gamabunta to meet the demon head on. While our brave shinobi forces distracted the fox, the fourth performed a Kinjutsu or a forbidden jutsu, which summon the Death God and sealed away the nine-tailed fox away into the stomach of a newborn baby, who's umbilical cord was freshly cut. This child is the hero of our village and jailer of the great demon lord. I present to you, Uzumaki Naruto."

Sarutobi held up the sleeping boy to the crowd, which was stunned into silence. Most thought were of disbelief, others confusion. But then a wave of anger flowed through the crowd as some mistook what the old Hokage had said and thought that the boy was the demon incarnate. Shouts of "Kill the Demon", "Smother it while it's weak", and "We should toss it to the wilderness" was heard throughout the crowd. Some people started to throw rocks, bottles, garbage, and whatever else was on hand at the now awake baby. The crowd was foaming at the mouths trying to bring as little bit of hurt they felt towards this child. To them he was nothing but the demon and not the child locking away the demon for their own safety.

Some of the people tried to storm the tower and Sarutobi had no choice but to call the ANBU for crowd control, which turned ugly real fast. All in all, the old man was disheartened at what his precious people tried to do to an innocent little boy and vowed to protect him from harm. Later he established a law stating that no one who was unaware of the Kyuubi being sealed in Naruto, would not be told and that the official history would state that the Kyuubi had died. And anyone who did break the law would be put to death immediately. Not even Naruto was to know about the Kyuubi being sealed into him, not until he was older and the Third had a chance to tell him. Sarutobi walked away from the balcony, echo's of the crowd screams could be heard throughout the tower. The crowd's bloodlust grew with every second and the attempts to rush the tower increased with every passing second. The guards surrounding the tower were hard pressed to keep out the enraged civilians.

Finally the ANBU appeared on the scene and immediately threw a few smoke bombs to drive the crowd back, while readying simple, yet harmless jutsu's that emitted a bright flash. Said flashes were enough to scare the crowd to disperse, until a few stragglers were left and arrested a few moments later. The Hokage was standing before the council, made up of Konoha's many great and powerful clans, both ninja and civilian alike. Apparently, one of Danzou's Root ANBU, had informed the council of the Third's speech to the village.

'_Damn you Danzou, you and your __**Root**__, have been a thorn in my side since the time when I first became Hokage instead of you.'_ Sarutobi thought bitterly.

The 'Root' division of the ANBU, is Danzou' s own creation and only answer to him instead of the Hokage. Danzou had turned down the position of Hokage years' ago, preferring his seat on the council, where he could manipulate things at his leisure. Some of the other council members weren't as bad or they weren't as obvious as Danzou is.

'_Even my old teammates are against me.'_ Sarutobi thought bitterly.

Sarutobi decided to start off the _'unexpected'_ emergency meeting of the village council.

"So, what is it that you wish to discuss?" he asked slowly, trying to feel out the mood in the chamber.

"Hokage-sama, a little birdie told us that the child currently in your office is the container for the Kyuubi no Kitsune? Is this not correct?" Danzou asked, his voice was as gruff as a rockslide and colder than steel.

"Yes, Naruto is asleep right now. Why?" Sarutobi asked concerned with the way this line of questioning was going.

"So the demon is still alive within the infant?" said Hyuuga Hiashi, clan head of the Hyuuga clan, asked with a sneer to his voice, his pupil-less white eyes glaring daggers at the old man.

"Yes, but he has no control over Naruto or his actions." Stated the old man rather calmly.

"As much as we would want to believe you, Sarutobi-san, we can not go on your word alone, nor can we ignore the fact that it was your successor, whom placed the seal on the child and is no longer here to testify to the strength of his work. With that said and out of the way, a vote was cast earlier while you were in your office and the majority of the council feels that 'the vessel', should be executed immediately before he can become a threat later on and finish the job _it_ started." Homura stated with enough venom in his voice to kill.

_ 'Fuck!!!! This is bad.' _Sarutobi thought and was desperately trying to think of a way for Naruto to live to see the next day.

"No." Sarutobi said calmly, belying what he was actually feeling.

"WHAT!", a few of the council members screamed, not really believing that the old fool would defy them.

"You heard me, your ears don't lap over. I made a promise to the child's father that he would be raised well and become a shinobi. And as Kami as my witness, that will happen." The old man said, leveling his steely gaze upon the entire council, unleashing enough killing intent to make most of the people present breakout in a steady sweat.

Surprisingly only one member was unaffected and chose to make his point known now that most of the council was silenced.

"I agree with the Hokage on this point." Danzou said breaking the silence.

The rest of the council looked at the elderly man like he just said that it was the end of the world and he was going to go run through the streets naked. The Hokage on the other hand, sensed where his old time rival might be going with this.

"I think the boy should become a shinobi. We'll make him into the most powerful weapon to ever be seen on this world and use him against our enemies. With him at our beck and call, the other shinobi villages wouldn't dare defy us or our power." Danzou said with a greedy little smile on his face. It took three seconds for the rest of the council to think about his plan and readily excepted it.

Sarutobi on the other hand was appalled at the very thought, which he subconsciously unleashed a large amount of chakra making everyone in the room quake with fear.

"You shall do no such thing! That boy is a hero and will not be made into an emotionless weapon, just to serve your needs. As Hokage that is my will and any who dare defy it will meet the end of my blade." Sarutobi said trying to restrain himself from killing everyone within the room.

And with that, he left the room, his robes billowing out behind him.

"Damn that fool! He's letting a opportunity slip right through his fingers." Homura said.

"Don't worry, we'll have other opportunities. We just need to be patient and wait for when his back is turned to make our move." Danzou said leaning back into his chair, looking to the entire world like nothing had been lost.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Six Years Later… **

A short child could be seen running through the streets of Konoha, bright wild blond hair flowing through the air, deep cerulean eyes looking every which way, trying to find a way out of his current predicament. Currently, little Naruto is running from a mob of angry villagers with a few shinobi thrown into the mix. Some may ask, 'Why are they chasing a poor, defenseless child?', the reason is fairly simple. They hate him and everything that he reminds them of. Naruto Uzumaki, is a constant reminder to the villagers that they lost someone precious to them, be they family or friends.

Naruto's day started out like any other day, he got up, made a breakfast of instant ramen, put on his orange jumpsuit and left his small apartment. Except that this day, October 10th, happened to be the sixth anniversary of the Kyuubi attack and today the annual festival was being held, meaning that a lot of the businesses would be closed today. It also happened to Naruto's birthday and he was going to see the 'Old Man' and see if he wanted to play.

As he made his way to the Hokage tower, most of the villagers he encountered glared at him, which wasn't at all uncommon, but the glares seemed to be especially harsh today. He learned early on to ignore the stares and the hateful curses slung at him by putting up his 'mask'. Said mask, was in fact a huge fox-like smile and appeared to be cheerful on the outside, while containing his true emotions on the inside. He managed to make it to the Hokage tower in record time, climb the several flights of stairs two at a time. Now he was in front of the secretary's desk and asked if he could see 'Gramps'.

"You will show the Hokage proper respect he deserves, you little brat. Besides he can't see you today, his schedule is completely full." The secretary sneered at him, unwilling to let the 'demon brat' in to see the Hokage. Dark thoughts of the demon assassinating the Hokage running through her head, while she continues to sneer at the boy.

Still smiling, which seem to grow just a little and a bit more forced after her statement, Naruto said loudly, "Fine, I'll just come back at another time."

Off to the left, the Hokage's office door opened, to reveal his old wrinkled face peeking through the gap in the door.

"Ah, Naruto. Just in time, as I've just finished all of my paperwork for the day. I was getting bored just sitting around." Sarutobi shot a meaningful glance at his secretary, as if saying he knew what she had said. She would be looking for another job by the end of the day, just like the last seven secretaries that have been through the office.

Little Naruto squeezed through the gap in the door and plopped down onto one of the more comfortable chairs within the office. Naruto looked throughout the office noticing a few little knick-knacks here and there. His eyes finally landed on four pictures behind the Hokage's desk, which depicted the four greatest Hokages to serve the village.

"So, I see that you've interested in my old friends, eh Naruto?" Sarutobi asked.

"Yeah, who are they?" the six year old chirped.

"Well, from left to right, they are the Shodaime and the NidaimeHokages, whom were like older brothers to me. They in fact were the ones to find me and bring me to this village when I was just a little boy no older than yourself." Sarutobi said, memories of the day surfacing in his mind.

"Really gramps? Wow that must have been a really long time ago then." Naruto said innocently, his blue eyes widening in surprise.

"Yes, it was and such great times we had. Let me tell you a story Naruto-kun. It's how this village was formed and it involves the Shodaime and the Nidaime." Sarutobi said with a wistful smile.

"Really! I'm all ears." The boy replied and a low chuckle could be heard throughout the room.

"Well, our story begins around seventy-five years ago and many bands of shinobi still roamed the wilds of the world. Back then their was less than a handful of Hidden Villages and as the story goes my older 'brothers' were traveling far and wide, learning new techniques, making new friends, and making enough money to live. One day they decided to create a new Hidden Village and traveled farther than before looking for just the right location. After a year of searching and finding nothing, they came across a most desolate land. At the time it was called Fire country, which earned it's name from the blazing sun and the scorching winds. Basically it was an expanded part of the desert that made up Wind country." Sarutobi paused to light his pipe.

"Then how come we have all these trees now, old man?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"Patience, Naruto-kun, I'm getting to that very shortly. Because of the shape of the land nobody wanted to make a village here and anybody who thought to try, was thought of as a fool. My brothers, on the other hand were not fools and were very special. The Shodaime could use the very rare Wood Element and wood based techniques, while the Nidaime was so proficient in water jutsu that he could create water from the very air without hand seals. It took some doing, but after two years the entire face of Fire Country was completely changed. The vast forest that you know now was said to be created by a single jutsu, while all of the lakes and rivers coursing through the land was drawn up from deep underground by the Nidaime. They began to build our village, attracting other shinobi looking for a place to establish clans or trades routes." Sarutobi finished.

"WOW!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs.

'_AH, my ears!' _Thought Sarutobi.

If anything was well known in Konoha, it was the fact that Naruto was one of the loudest kids in the village. After a few moments, his hearing finally came back and he noticed that Naruto was uncommonly quite. That was when he notices the child's head bowed with his blond bangs covering his eyes from view. When he looked up, Sarutobi saw the look of great sadness.

"Hey old man, it's that day again. You know the one I'm talking about."

"What are you talking about, Naruto?" Sarutobi blinked, his mind still frazzled from all of the paperwork he had from earlier.

"You know, October 10th, my birthday. It's already starting and the sun is still up. They don't usually start till nightfall." The child said slowly.

A strained grunt came from the elder man, while he was pinching the bridge of his nose in agitation.

'_It gets worse every year.'_ The Hokage thought solemnly.

"Try to be patient with them Naruto, they don't understand, give them time." Sarutobi said reassuringly.

"I'll try old man, I'll try." He almost whispered and then proceeded to plaster a wide cheesy grin on his face.

The mask was now back on and it hurt the older man to see someone so young have to resort to such a defense mechanism.

"Naruto, what is your dream?" asked Sarutobi as he puffed on his pipe.

"Well...I guess, I want people to see me for me and not curse at me or throw things at me. I want them to show me respect!" Naruto exclaimed his little fist thrusted in the air, his eyes full of determination.

"So, your going to take my job then, eh? Cause the title Hokage, means that you've the skills and ability to be the best of the best out of all the ninja." Sarutobi smirked.

"Yeah! If I had your job then they'll have to show me respect." Naruto said.

"Remember though, Naruto, you'll have to train very hard and you'll have to prove to your peers that your are the best if you want to become Hokage one day." the old man said, making sure the kid didn't get to far ahead of himself.

"Right got it. Don't get too comfortable in that seat gramps, cause before you know it it'll be mine. Believe it!" Naruto said before he disappeared out through the office door.

Sarutobi chuckled at the antics of a six year old and shook his head ruefully. That was until his secretary came in with a large stack of papers needed to be reviewed before being signed. Sarutobi stared in horror as his dreaded enemy reared it's ugly head yet again, which cause the old man to break down and cry.

'_Naruto, please hurry up and become Hokage, damn paperwork, why Kami why must you torment me so?'_ he thought sadly.

* * *

Naruto was feeling pretty hungry after his chat with the old man and decided that lunch was in order. He made his way towards his favorite eatery, Ichiraku's Ramen Bar, where the best ramen in the world is made.

'_Hope the old man didn't close today. Cause I'm starvin'_ Naruto thought as he ran down some back alleys.

Making his way through the seedier parts of Konoha, avoiding the already crowded bars and other establishments of such note. After twenty minutes of running he finally made it to his destination, only to find that they had closed for the day.

"Ah, man now what am I going to eat? All the other places in the village would just throw me out or try to add me to the menu, if I'm not quick enough." Naruto said to himself.

'_I better just head back to the apartment. Hopefully no one will try to break in this year, like they did last year or the year before that or the year before that.'_ He thought, while vivid memories of past occurrences flashed through his head.

Quickly backtracking his way to his home, Naruto move from shadow to shadow, barely making any noise. It was already late afternoon and he need to get home before dark or before some rowdy drunks stumbled out of some bar. Fifteen agonizing minutes later, Naruto was less than thirty yards from his apartment building and it seemed like the coast was clear, not a villager in sight.

'_That's strange, even on a day like today, their should be a few people out and about. But the streets are completely deserted. Hell even the stray dogs, that are normally scrounging around the alley next to my apartment building are missing. This isn't good._' He thought with a little trepidation.

"Come on, Naruto. You can do it! It's only thirty yards to the building. Only thirty long yards, while making a mad dash on short legs, out in the open for all to see. Yeah, no sweat. What's the worse that could happen?" He says trying to build-up his confidence.

'_Damn my short legs! Why couldn't I be tall!?_' he thought mournfully.

He took four long even breaths, trying to calm his already shaky nerves. On the fourth breath he charged out of his hiding place and made for his sanctuary. Slowly the distance began to dwindle between himself and the apartment building. He was less than ten feet from his goal, when suddenly pain erupted from the back of his skull and stars filled his vision. He crumbled to the ground like a sack of potatoes, his breathing causing a few clouds of dirt to appear. He felt the back of his head and drew back from the intense throbbing pain it caused. When he looked at his hand, he saw the warm sticky liquid that was his blood covering his hand. He looked to see what had caused his misfortune and discovered a broken saké bottle.

"Wh…where d…o you think you're going b…brat?" a slurred and sour voice sounded not far behind Naruto.

Naruto risked a quick glance of his surroundings and what he saw would ruin the rest of his week. A few dozen people began to mill out of the surrounding alleyways, quite a few of them smelling strongly of alcohol. Each was armed with whatever makeshift weapon that was handy. At this discovery Naruto thought it was high time to make his exit. He scrambled to his feet and dashed for the nearest ally as five men tried to stop him by swinging their clubs, which were fished out of a nearby dumpster. One managed to clip his shoulder and the rest missed, if barely by a hairs width tearing his clothes a little. Once in the alleyway he found a ladder connected to a fire escape and launched himself up the ladder. Not far behind the mob gave chase, few of the members already climbing up the ladder, mumbling curses under their breath and slipping every now and again.

Naruto made it to the roof and charged towards the next building, jumping over the four foot gap between buildings and rolling as he landed. Sweat trickled down his face causing some of the blond locks of hair to become plastered to his forehead. The thuds of feet hitting roof tar alerted him that the drunkards hadn't given up just yet. A fresh wave of adrenaline hit his system forcing him to move as fast as he could away from his pursuers. He ran jumping from roof top to roof top, avoiding incoming glass bottles and stones thrown by the mob.

'_I just need to get back to the old man and he'll protect me.'_ Naruto thought.

His goal was a few blocks away and his pursuers were slowly falling behind. He was so distracted that he didn't notice the incoming kunai, until they pierced his skin. A strangle scream barely escaped his mouth as he tumbled off one of the roof tops and fell into a nearby tree. A sickening crunch was heard and a blinding pain erupted from his ribcage. Naruto slid out of the tree and hit the ground with a dull thud, this time his scream was not strangled or muffled at all.

'_Didn't think a knee bent in that direction.'_ Naruto thought to himself, a little in shock and mild curiosity.

Two ninja's appeared out of the shadows, dressed in dark fitted clothes and white ANBU armor, as they lazily approached the bleeding child. Their ANBU masks hiding them from being identified and hope of being rescued began to grow.

"Seems you missed, eh Rooster?" one of them said casually, like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Yes, so it would appear so, Ram. The little demon shit moved at the last moment and the kunai nailed him in the shoulder instead of the heart." Rooster replied reaching up over his shoulder to draw his standard issue ANBU katana. The sword cleared it's sheath with barely an audible noise and appeared entirely black so light wouldn't reflect off of it.

After hearing this Naruto gave up hope of being rescued anytime soon and was trying to figure out a way to escape. The last rays of the sun were becoming unbearable to his skin and when he saw the katana being raise over the ANBU's head.

"Any last words demon scum?" Ram asked.

Naruto was scared and he was about to die before he could even complete his dream. And he was going to start at the Academy next month too. He wouldn't get to say goodbye to old man Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, whom ran the ramen stand, or to 'gramps'. Then something inside of him stirred, like something was becoming restless. That was the deciding moment for Naruto, he would not show his fear to these bastards. If this was to be his last moment on earth, then he would go out with whatever dignity he had left to him and he wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

"Give it your best shot, you little crack whore bitch!!" he managed to scream at the top of his lungs, as determination burned in his eyes. He learned that one from one of his neighbors numerous fights with his girlfriend.

Both ANBU were taken aback by his last words, but the one holding the katana seem to become enraged at the boy's words.

"DIE YOU FILTHY PIECE OF SHIT!! GO BACK TO HELL WHERE YOU BELONG FOX!" Rooster bellowed and swung down with all of his might.

Naruto just stared at the incoming weapon as it loomed closer and closer to him. Everything seemed to slow down, the sword moving barley a fraction of an inch, the sweat sliding down Naruto's face, even the birds in the sky came to a stop. Then the world became black as pitch, all of Naruto's senses were smothered by it. He could see nothing, hear nothing, it was as if he was in an endless void. He closed his eyes trying to advert the oncoming panic attack and when he opened his eyes he was in what appeared to be a sewer.

"What the…where am I? What's going on? And why the am I sitting in water?" Naruto questioned, trying to understand what was going on.

He stood up and the water came up level with his knees. He looked around the dim settings and sloshed his way down the tunnel. Eventually his eyes grew accustomed to the low light levels and saw many smaller offshoot tunnels, but all of them felt wrong for some reason. He had been walking for what seemed like hours, wondering if he was making any progress at all, until he saw a faint glow up ahead. As he drew closer, he noticed that the glow was red in color and had a evil taint to it. When he finally reached the source of the glow, he found that it was a pair of huge double hinged doors. The metal fitting looked to be made out of brass, while the wood that made up the door appeared to be a dark oak.

'_Looks like if I want answers, then I'll find them in here.'_ Naruto thought to himself.

He pushed with all of his might and the doors swung open barely making a sound. Inside the room was a massive cage built into the back wall and everything appeared to be made of stone; the floor, the ceiling, the walls, even the bars of the cage. He walked further into the room and notice the water level was higher here than outside of the room. That and he was now walking on top of the water, instead of sloshing through it. He was bought out of his observations by a loud rumble that nearly shook the room. He looked towards the cage and saw a piece of paper on it that had the kanji for seal on it. The rumble got louder and something shifted from within the cage. Two glowing red eyes could be seen coming from the darkness. As the creature drew closer to the bars of the cell, it looked to be a furry mass of some sort. All Naruto could see was red fur and nine tails.

"**So my jailer has finally come to pay me a visit?"** the furry mass questioned, curious as to why the boy was here.

"Kitty!" Naruto squealed loudly. After that exclamation, silence ensued and all was still for a brief moment.

"**I AM NOT A GOD DAMN KITTY!! I AM THE MOST POWERDUL DEMON LORD TO EVER EXIST, DEMONS AND HUMANS ALIKE WOULD QUAKE AT THE MEAR SOUND OF MY NAME!!"** the furry mass finished, breathing heavily.

Our blond hero on the other hand, wasn't paying attention to the outburst and completely missed it.

"Hn, sorry what did you say?" Naruto asked feeling a little foolish for not paying attention.

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say at the moment as the creature thrashed around in it's cage cursing Kami above for his fate being sealed away into a "Dumb Blonde" and went to go sulk in the corner of it's cell.

"Hey kitty, can you tell me the way out of here? I need to find Old Man Hokage, so he can stop the villagers and ninja from hurting me." Naruto pleaded with the beast.

"**Oy, little meat sack, you're not that bright, are ya?" **the 'kitty' half asked, half stated.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto demanded angrily.

'_**Sweet Kami, this kid is thick. He doesn't even realize what's going on'**_ the furry creature thought to itself.

"**Alright kid, listen and listen good, cause I'm not repeating myself. No questions till the end of the presentation, thank you. Now you remember running from the mob, right?", **at this Naruto nodded his head,** "Then you should remember getting nailed by that kunai and falling off a two story building. Then the ANBU came and admitted that they were trying to kill you. When the ANBU drew his sword and swung it at you, I had to use a bit of my chakra to pull you into your own mind." **Kyuubi paused to let that last little fact sink in.

Naruto had plopped down in front of the cage listening to the furry beast, waiting for something important to pop up. In other words, he completely missed the big fucking hint at where he is. This was not lost on the Kyuubi and possibly rethinking letting the 'flesh monkey' die.

"**Alright idiot, this is YOUR MIND. I AM SEALED WITHIN YOU. I AM THE KYUUBI. ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME ON THIS LITTLE FELLA, OR DO I NEED TO BREAK OUT THE FLASH CARDS TO HELP YOU OUT."**Kyuubi said very loudly, but painstakingly slow so as to not go over the blonde's head.

"Oh my Kami, you're the Kyuubi! But I thought the Yondaime killed you years ago?" asked Naruto.

"**Nope kit, no mere human can kill me, hell even the death god couldn't kill me, only seal me away, into you. With a being of my caliber, no normal object or animal could hold me for long. Not even a full grown adult could hope to contain my power, which would over load their chakra system freeing after their death. But a baby with it's chakra pathways still in it's underdeveloped stage could hold and become accustomed to my power with only a few side effects. F.Y.I.; those whisker marks on your face and your freakish stamina."**

"So, what now?" he asked.

"**Well, now you're a mere inch away from having your melon split in half and there is nothing I can do about it. I only had enough time to bring you down here and not enough time to mount a defense with my power."** Kyuubi sighed in a loud exasperation.

"So that's it! You're just going to give up!" Naruto screamed at the demon.

Kyuubi snorted at the kid's outburst, a little impressed and a little irritated. **"Kit, what would you have me do? I'm trapped here, until you die and then I die along with you taking me to whatever judgment awaits for me on the other side. The blonde monkey really knew how to make his seals, I'll give him that."**

"No…I can't die. Not now, not like this. I haven't even achieved my dream yet, I still have so much left to do. I can't let it end like this." Naruto said, as if on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Moments later the whole chamber started to shake, fragments of ceiling came down followed by clouds of dust. Unnoticed till now, a stone like object wrapped in chains, began to pulsate in an eerily silver glow. This rock soon began to emerge from the floor and the chains surrounding it tightened and broke apart. Naruto suddenly felt a surge of power enter his system. The Kyuubi was trying to figure out what the hell was going on. But before he could voice any opinion that he might have had, Naruto was ejected out of the chamber and back to consciousness.

* * *

The blade moved closer to its target as Naruto started to become aware again and stared as the blade was but a mere inch away from his skull. On some instinct unknown to Naruto, he felt the sword coming and reach out for it, not with his hand but with some unseen force. The blade stopped in it's track, like it collided with a barrier of some sort. The two ANBU were at a loss as to what was happening, Rooster applied more pressure to the blade trying to make it move, but it just wouldn't budge. He removed his hands from the pommel and the sword stayed exactly where it was, stationary in midair.

"What the hell is happening Ram?" Rooster asked, unsure on how to respond to their predicament.

"Why do you think I know? I'm just as lost as you are." His partner responded in a snide manner.

As they were talking every metallic object within a thirty foot radius, began to shake and quiver. The noise these items were making became so great that the ANBU were looking around frantically trying to find the source of the disturbance. A rusted over can flew through the air and nailed Ram in the back, while a lead pipe spun and kneecapped Rooster. The sickening scrunch and his scream rang out through the back alley and his partner was trying in vain to defend himself from numerous metallic objects trying to bash his head in. The objects stopped moving all together and floated in midair as if this was the calm before the storm. Ram and Rooster look in a strange sense of awe as all of the metal objects began to break apart and fell to the ground like little black grains of sand. This sand moved on it's own accord away from the ANBU toward Naruto, who they had forgotten till now. The sight that greeted them would haunt them for the rest of their short lives. Naruto stood stock still his injuries seemingly healed, the katana blade still hovering in front of his face, as the black sand move faster to him. The sand swirled and danced around Naruto like a rehearsed dance, until it stopped.

Naruto looked at them, his eyes glowing with an intense blue glow, they would find no mercy in those eyes. Ram broke the spell casted by those eerie eyes and reach in his weapons pouch and let loose a handful of shuriken. The small throwing stars were heading for most of his major organs, but they stopped just like the katana and began to circle around him. The black swirled with such intensity that soon Naruto became obscured from their sight. Naruto forced his will onto the shuriken and swiftly shot them off back at their owner. One shuriken pierced his thigh, another bounced off the armor protecting his stomach. Two more succeeded in hitting their target, one lodging itself in the left wrist while the other left a good sized gash in his collar bone. The others sailed off harmlessly to the surrounding buildings, chipping pieces of brick as they passed.

Naruto took control over the sand and it rushed towards Ram and covered him in a tight embrace and lifted him three feet off the ground.

"Hey!! Let me down you damn monster!" Ram screamed at him, spittle flying out of his mouth.

"No…I won't die. You…will…die!!!" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs.

"_Iron Sand Bullets!"_ Naruto attack rang out and the black sand formed into what looked like ball bearings and shot off like a bat out of hell.

The 'bullets' pierced through Ram body armor like, a rock though tissue paper, a gargled scream escaped his lips as a mist of blood waft in the air. He slumped to the ground unmoving, his eyes vacant and stared into nothingness. His partner watched in fascinated horror as he watched his teammate be brutalized by a small boy. The specks of tiny sand particles fell slowly to the ground and snaked their way back to Naruto.

Rooster seeing his chance hobbled away the best he could with his injury. His sudden jerky movements drew Naruto's attention back onto him and as he was about to attack, he felt the energy quickly leaving his body. With a last ditch effort, the small boy focused all of his new found power onto Rooster's body, feeling the trace elements of iron with his blood. With all of his might he sent a good amount of the iron into his brain and blocking a major artery. Rooster jerked to a stop and trembled, his limbs almost failing, about gurgling noises could be heard coming from the man mouth. Then Naruto released his hold on the iron in the man's brain, causing it to shoot out through veins, arteries and popping blood vessels along the way. This led the man known only as 'Rooster", to die of a fatal aneurysm.

His enemies dead, Naruto fell over from exhaustion, slowly slipping into unconsciousness; the last thing he saw was another ANBU with a weasel mask jump out of a tree and approached our fall in hero.

"Well, Naruto Uzumaki, you are quite interesting for a six year. Yes, interesting indeed." The weasel said as he remove his mask to reveal two fully matured Sharingan eyes spinning wildly in excitement, a sly smirk played across his face.


End file.
